Animal-trap.



W. B. SPENCER.

ANIMAL TRAP.

APPLICATION FILED FEBJO, 1910.

Patented Nov. 5, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

NM N N N Q Q Q rN as CDLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO.,WASH|NGTON, D. C.

W. B. SPENCER.

ANIMAL TRAP.

APPLICATION IILED FBBJO, 1910.

Patented Nov. 5, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 their WILLIAM. B. SPENCER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ANIMAL-TRAP.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM B. SPENCER, a citizen of the UnitedStates,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Animal-Traps, of whichthe following is a description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of this specification, in which correspondingnumerals of reference in the different figures indicate like parts.

The fact is well recognized by student-s of animal habits, that anuntamed animal will rarely enter any place with which it is unfamiliarunless it is apparent that it can readily escape therefrom, and if atrap is sprung by an animal before it is secured or if it escapestherefrom, it will seldom if ever enter the trap a second time.

The object of my invention is to take advantage of this fact and to soconstruct an ance as much as possible in harmony with the environment ofthe animals to be trapped and that it may indicate a POSSllOllity ofescape so that their fears may not be aroused.

To these ends my invention consists in the combination of elementsheremafter more particularly described and definitely pointed out in theclaims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the trap, embodying thefeatures of my improvement portions thereof being shown in section, Fig.2 is a vertical sectional view taken upon the line 2 Fig. 1, viewed inthe direction of the arrow there shown, a portion of the device being inelevation, Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken upon the line 3,Fig. 1, viewed in the direction of the arrow there shown, Fig. 1 is anenlarged view of the portion of the features shown in Fig. 3, Fig. 5 isan end elevation showing one of the outer gates as it would appear whenclosed, and Fig. 6 is a like view showing the gate open.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represent a skeleton frame inclosing themain runway which is connected with a similar frame 2 arranged at rightangles thereto and lead ing to a corral or cage 3 having an entrance 4and a final outlet 5 indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and normallyclosed by means of a sliding gate 6. As it is well known that a rat orother similar animal will exhaust all means of escape before at-Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 10, 1910.

the frame. forming the gates 8 are adapted to enter .notches 11, Figs.2, 3 and 4, formed in the lower part of the frame so as to prevent said:bars from being displaced by an entrapped animal when the gates areclosed.

animal trap that it may present an appear- Patented Nov. 5, 1912. SerialNo. 543,100.-

tempting to gnaw his way out, I prefer to .form the top and sides of therunways of wood, straw-board or any suitable material with whlch theanimal in his natural en having pintles 9 at the top which are pivotallysupported in brackets 10 attached to The lower ends of the bars Mountedin bearings 12 in the upper part of the frame and extending lengthwiseof the runway 1 is a rock-shaft 13, the ends of vwhich are bent at rightangles thereto to form arms 14, Figs. 3, 5 and 6, each arm being soadjusted as to engage a cam lug 15 upon the cross-bar at the top of thegate, the construction being such that when the shaft is rocked in onedirection the gates are closed while a reverse movement serves to openthem.

Rigidly attached to the rock shaft midway between its ends is a sectorshaped crank element 16, one portion of which is jointedly connected bymeans of a rod 17 to a lug 18 attached to a pivoted floor 19, pivoted at20 to a point on the lower part of the frame at or near the entrance ofthe runway 2. The pivoted floor 19 corresponds substantially in width tothat of the runway 2 and its forward or short end extends across therunway 1, so that an animal passing through said runway will step uponit. The rear end of said pivoted floor is extended within the runway 2to the last gateway hereinafter mentioned and is adapted to restnormally upon the base portion or framework of said trap as shown inFig. 2, thereby raising the forward end so that an ani- -mal cannot passthrough the outer runway without depressing said outer end and liftingthe inner one.

A rod 21 has one end connected to the sec tor 16 and the other to ashort arm 22 which is rigidly attached to and extended up wardly from across-bar 23, which forms the upper portion of a gate 24: at theentrance to the runway 2, the ends of said cross-bar being pivoted inlugs 25 upon the upper part of the frame. The lower end of the gate barsare arranged to enter notches 26 in a crossbar 27 to preventdisplacement when the gate is closed. The parts are so adjusted thatwhen the gates 8 are open the gate 24 will be closed.

A stationary platform 28 is located above the pivoted floor 19,extending from the cross-bar 27 rearwardly as shown, so as to form aportion of the runway 2 for the purpose hereinafter stated.

At or near the end of the runway 2 leading to the opening I of thecorral 3 is a normally closed gravity gate 80 having a crossbar 31 atthe top, the ends of which are supported in bearings in the frame. Saidgate is constructed like the other gates, with the lower ends of thebars entering notches 32 in a cross-bar 33, so that the gate may beopened by an animal in the runway when moving toward the corral, butclosed against movement from the opposite side.

The operation of said device is as follows: When an animal approacheseither entrance to the main runway, both gates 8 being open, it can seea clear passage through the runway which it therefore enters withoutfear. The end of the pivoted floor or platform 19 is far enough awayfrom the entrance gates 8 to permit it to approach it without causing amovement of any of the parts. Upon attempting to cross the plat-form,however, its weight causes the outer end to descend and the inner onewithin the runway 2 to rise, thereby closing the gates 8 and opening thegate 24. The pivoted floor 19 is so adjusted that it will remain in thelast position in which it is placed until reversed by a weight upon theopposite side of the pivot 20. The animal is, therefore, free to runback and forth in the runway 1 without affecting said pivoted floor, butas soon as it enters the sec- 0nd runway and steps from the platform 28upon the pivoted floor, the position of the latter is reversed, the gate24: closed behind it and the gates 8 opened. The purpose of the platform28 is to permit the animal to enter the runway 2 and to get well awayfrom the gate 24 before reversing the pivoted floor 19. Otherwise itmight become alarmed before passing entirely through the gate. Being inthe second runway with the gate 2 L closed behind it, it soon discoversthat the gate 30 will yield to pressure and enters the corral 3.

An important feature of the device is that 1. The combination in ananimal-trap, of l a main runway having normally open gates at its ends,a secondary runway for connecting the first with. a corral, a normallyclosed gateway between said runways, a pivoted floor extendinglengthwise of said secondary and into the first runway, means connectedwith said floor for closing said first named gates and opening the otherwhen a weight is applied to that part of the floor within said firstrunway, means for reversing the movement of said gates when weight isapplied to the floor within said secondary runway, a rigid floor forcovering a portion of said pivoted floor within said secondary runwayfrom the entrance gate, a corral and an inwardly opening gate leadingthereto from said secondary runway.

2. In an animal trap, the combination of a primary runway havingnormally open gates at the opposite ends, said runway beingsubstantially straight to permit one entrance thereto to be seen fromthe other, a secondary runway for connecting said primary runway with acorral, a corral at the end of said secondary runway, a gravity gate atsaid end opening into said corral but inoperable therefrom, a pivotedbalanced floor element extending from said primary runway into saidsecondary runway, means for connecting the same with the gates at theentrance of said runways to operate those leading to the primary runwayin one direction while that leading therefrom is reversed with respectto the other two and a stationary floor element located at the entranceof said secondary runway above, but shorter than said pivoted floorelement to enable an animal to pass well into said secondary runwaybefore stepping upon said pivoted runway.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses, this fifteenth day of November 1909.

WILLIAM B. SPENCER.

WVitnesses D. II. FLETCHER, CARRIE E. JORDAN;

Cop'ies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. 0. a

